also known as Chemi bebia

My Grandmother1929

Forgotten for a half-century, Kote Mikaberidze's MY GRANDMOTHER is a delightful example of the Soviet Eccentric Cinema movement as well as a scathing satire of Soviet bureaucracy. Noted for its anarchic styles, stop-motion puppetry, exaggerated camera angles, animation and constructivist sets, the film unspools the foibles and follies that abound when a Georgian paper pusher, modeled after American silent comic Harold Lloyd, loses his job. After being fired, he learns the value of a "grandmother," a slang term for the boodle that moves the table 'round. Featuring a remarkable score by the Beth Custer Ensemble (the aforementioned Beth Custer with John Ettinger, Kristina Forester, Chris Grady, David James, Todd Sickafoose and Jan Jackson) accompanied by an unconventional audio translation of the original Russian intertitles (narrated in English by Nils Frykdahl and Georgian by Edisher Dabrundashvili).

Member Reviews (3)

The "unconventional audio translation of the original Russian intertitles" renders the film unwatchable. No subtitles means English language viewers are reliant on an embarrassing narrator to read each intertitle aloud. The rest of the audio track is impossibly grating and features dubbed in new dialogue not included in the intertitles during conversation scenes. Film itself looks fantastic, but I could only make it through about five minutes of this butchered copy.

Some great comic touches, abstract approach to slapstick and social commentary; a little Kafka, a little Harold Lloyd. Love all the documentation throughout... the paper-pushing, the invoices, the newspapers, the letters. And some very inventive visual effects/animation.